Sunday, May 07, 2006

El Patio Mexican Restaurant And Wine Bar

Here's another one to throw into the annals of Mexican food in Singapore (34 Lorong Mambong in Holland Village right next door to Cha Cha Cha, 6468-1520). Unfortunately, this was not much to speak of either. The smoked chicken enchiladas, billed as "really addictive" on their menu, fell flat with just a boring chicken taste and hardly any sauce. The soft tacos used ground beef, canned jalapenos, and flour tortillas. The salsa wasn't fresh, the shallow basket of (complimentary) chips only had at most 10-15 chips inside, and the guy serving us today was a bit clueless. And geez - they did that lame sour cream drizzle on the side of my taco here too to try to make it look pretty, thus forcing me to use a knife and fork.

Then again, I guess I shouldn't really come to expect much when we're this far away from Mexico. And to be fair, I did eat the whole thing, despite all the things I could nitpick on. (They had a very interesting set of jalapeno poppers featuring cream cheese, of all things, and only half a jalapeno - cut longitudinally - that I still ate quite easily.)

Was it real Mexican food (or even Tex-Mex)? Not really. Was it edible though? Admittedly, I still ate the whole thing. Would I come back? On the basis of this meal alone, no. But the neighboring table's fajitas did smell rather nice.

Then again, the menu's description of the Caesar salad here said that it is served with "healthy soy bits." That statement is so horrifically atrocious that it alone should disqualify this place for eternity.